


Déjà Vu

by OMsRandomWriter



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Chat Noir Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Lady Noir, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Kwami Swap, Ladybug Adrien Agreste | Mister Bug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng-centric, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow To Update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:22:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22472521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OMsRandomWriter/pseuds/OMsRandomWriter
Summary: Master Fu meant for Tikki to go to Marinette and Plagg to go to Adrien, but instead of a little red bug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng gets a smart-ass cat kwami while Adrien Agreste gets a caring ladybug kwami. Things will never be the same, but things have never been so different.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Emilie Agreste/Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth, Ivan Bruel/Mylène Haprèle, Sabine Cheng/Tom Dupain
Comments: 15
Kudos: 128





	1. Mister Bug and Lady Noir (Origins Remix Part 1)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bellemyers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellemyers/gifts).



> Haha, yep, I got dragged back into the MLB fandom and I don't regret it one bit! Anyways, I've been toying with this idea long before Reflekdoll and I figured since I'm watching the episodes again, I might as well work on this AU

Marinette looked at the small box in front of her, blue eyes widening. “What’s this doing here?” She wondered as she opened the box and it gave off a blast of bright light.

When she was able to see properly, there was a… black floating cat…? God, what was going on? As she started to shakily point at it, the creature blinked before noticing her, grinning to… themself? “Right, kid, things are about to get real difficult real quick. I’m Plagg, nice to meet you!”

Really, anyone could’ve seen her scream coming. “ _Aah! Help!_ ” She screeched before starting to chuck her throw pillows, yarn and anything else within reach at it. 

It didn’t seem very affected, instead flying around her room with curious green eyes. “Nice place! Can you eat any of this!”

“ _No, spit that out!_ ” She immediately yelled, lunging forward and pulling her playstation controller out of its mouth. As soon as she got the controller away, she immediately put the creature on her table and put a glass cup over it. “What the hell are you,” she whispered, backing away towards her trapdoor. Her parents were in the bakery, which meant she had to go down to the second floor for them to begin to hear her.

“Look, Marinette, I’m a kwami,” it - _he_ , she decided - said, looking amused as he tapped at the glass. “I’m not supposed to be with you, but Tiks and I, we decided the Balance wouldn’t be right if you got her, so we swapped boxed when the old man wasn’t looking. Long story short: I grant powers. Yours is the power of destruction, got it?”

“No!” She snapped. “How do you know my name? What is a kwami?!”

“We’re gods, kid. We created the thing we resemble. Tikki, she’s creation and I’m destruction. Can’t get much simpler than that. You got anything to eat? I’m starving…”

She twitched at how his whiskers and tail trembled, and while she didn’t like the idea of a… a _god_ … being anywhere near her, he could possibly help with Ivan. “I’ll get you something,” she mumbled. “I live in a bakery.” At this, Plagg groaned.

“Of course, you’re practically _meant_ for her.” he grumbled. “Look, food… can wait. There’s a monster running around, right? Should probably take care of that first. Because he’s from Nooro, you have to destroy the thing the akuma is in. You get a one-time power to help get your partner, the one Tikki is with, to the object so he can purify it. Just call for ‘cataclysm’ and the thing you touch with your dominant hand will dissolve to dust. Fair warning kid: **_don’t_** use it on a living creature. Once you use it, you have about five minutes before you go back to your civilian self.”

Marinette blinked before she realized something; during the entire time he was talking, she had relaxed and was no longer moving towards the trap door. “But I’m stuck in here. Maman, Papa, they won’t be willing to let me leave, not with Ivan like this.”

“Which is why you gotta transform! Just say ‘Claws Out’ and mean it and you’ll get your suit on.” he said before going _through the cup oh god he can_ **_do that?!_ **He zipped up to her face before tilting his head. "Any other questions?"

"I, uh… I need a hero name." She managed to get out.

"Pick something along the lines of 'black' or 'cat'." Plagg shrugged. Biting her lip, she found herself standing straighter.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng slouched. She stuttered and was a spaz about everything.

"Call me Lady Noir," she asked, to which the kwami grinned. "Now, Plagg… _Claws out!_ "

There was a brilliant flash of green, and when she could see again she immediately rushed over to the mirror. She was in a leather suit with knee high combat boots. She saw movement at her head and looked up to see black and green cat ears twitching alongside her belt/tail. The tail itself was from the crooked sash across her waist, and as she thought about it, her tail wrapped around her ankle. The golden bell on her suit kinda sucked, but at least she had pockets! Pulling out her staff, she gave it an experimental twirl, fumbling over her fingers to catch it as it fell to the floor.

“ _Stoneheart is heading towards the Montparnasse tower. The monster seems to be unstoppable!_ ” Nadja was reporting, and as Marinette turned to the TV, she gasped at what she saw.

“Alya?” she whispered, seeing her friend.

“ _Marinette, did you get home ok?_ ” Sabine Cheng called, making her green-blue eyes fly open.

“Uhh… yeah, Maman! Just super!!” She called, waiting a few seconds before going to her balcony and climbing onto the roof. “Ok, so I have super powers and a staff. Do you extend?” she muttered, fiddling with the buttons until she suddenly found herself launching over roofs. At first she screamed, but then it turned into giggles as her blue hair fluttered behind her, pulled into a small half-up, half down braid.

She landed on one of the roofs and sets the staff down, extending it to where she could walk over it. She wanted to test her balance with this tail. About halfway through, she could stop using her arms as balance, which made her smile a bit wider. “I think I’m starting to get the hang of this!” She laughed and looked up, smile faltering as a red and black costumed boy was falling, his green eyes wide and scared. Instinctively, she dashed forward and caught him, but her foot slipped and they fell, but before they could hit the ground, some string tangled them together.

“Well, hey there.” the boy joked, making her roll her eyes. “Just thought I’d drop in.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to lose my balance,” she mumbled. After a bit of struggling, he was able to grab a… yoyo? Seriously, thats what was holding them up? He tugged at it and they finished falling. She stood and stretched, looking at him a bit more closely. He had a red suit, much like hers, but there were three black spots on his chest and sides while his calves and forearms were completely black. A small black triangle sat on his hips to where it connected to the middle dot on his chest.

“I bet you’re the partner my kwami told me about. I’m… Mister Bug. Yeah, Mister Bug. And you?”

“Lady Noir,” she replied, offering a hand. “And as a warning, I’m madly clumsy.” His face lit up and they shook hands.

“No sweat clumsy girl. I’m learning the ropes too.” Before she could say anything, the ground trembled and they both turned to see a building fall, making her gasp. Had there been people inside there?! She started to rush forward, but Mister Bug caught her hand, looking concerned “Where are you going?”

“To save Paris, right?” she countered, shaking his hand and jumping up onto a roof, feeling a rush of adrenaline as part of her freaked out over how she was suddenly able to jump 20 feet with no problems. Following the trail of destruction, she saw Ivan… she saw _Stoneheart_ cornering Kim. Kim, a boy she knew since they were seven. “ _Hey_!” She shouted. “It’s not very nice to pick on people who are smaller than you!”

“I guess you’re talking about yourself.” Stoneheart quipped, making her bit back a snort. She jumped down and did a cat and mouse game ( _Ha_ , someone please kill her, that was a horrible pun) with the Akuma as Kim was able to get away… but now Alya was in danger, so without thinking, she grabbed her staff and slammed it into Stoneheart’s leg, watching in selfloathing as he got bigger.

“Where are you Bug?” she muttered just as Stoneheart threw a net, right towards the ombre haired girl. _Alya!_ She rushed forward and tackled her, rolling with her as the net got lodged in the entrance. When she tried to shift it, it wouldn’t budge. She was trapped and there was no sign of Mister-

“Animal Cruelty? How shameful!” Her heart almost lept into her throat as Alya cheered beside her. “Sorry it took so long Lady Noir!”

“It’s cool Mister Bug.” she replied as the boy stood between the akuma and the two teens. “He gets bigger and stronger with every attack. We have to do something different.” she quietly murmured.

“Different how?”

“I don’t know,” she mumbled, rubbing her face.

“Ok then. Let’s use our powers! _Lucky Charm!_ Apparently I can make stuff that’ll… help… us?” they both stared at the suit before he frowned. “Let me do this again-”

“No, you can’t!” she cried. “You can only do it once and you have five minutes before you transform back! Didn’t your kwami explain anything to you?!” The boy flushed as he dodged one of Stoneheart’s attacks.

“I guess I was a little excited about my new life.” he replied, making her sigh and give up on attempting to budge the net.

“ _Cataclysm!_ ” she cried, and as a black mass appeared in her hand, she shivered at it’s cold aura. Placed it on the net, she watched it crumble to dust before she darted toward. “We have to break the object where the akuma is hiding!” she cried out.

“Well, he’s made entirely out of stone.” he shot back. But as they looked, she noticed something.

“His right hand, it’s still closed! He never opens it. It’s like the russian dolls. The object isn’t on him, it’s hidden in his fist!” the two changed their attack plan, going for he closed hand with little success. “Ugh, I can’t think of a plan!”

Mister Bug looked around quickly before darting forward and tying the hose into the suit before wrapping her legs with his yo-yo. “Don’t resist. Trust me.”

 _That’s a tall order_ , she half thought, as she went flying, where she was caught by Stoneheart’s left hand. “This boy is crazy,” she grumped.

“Catch me if you can!” Stoneheart dropped the wad of paper and indeed caught Mister Bug. It clicked what was going to happen.

“ _Alya, the tap, now!_ ” she yelled, and a second later, Stoneheart dropped Mister Bug, who quickly broke the akuma object, where a purple and black butterfly flew away. Lady Noir dropped to the ground as Ivan blinked and looked around.

“What’s going on? What am I doing here?” he asked, making her kneel beside him.

“You were incredible, Lady Noir!” Mister Bug said with a grin.

“You figured out the plan, partner.” she shot back before they fist bumped and said together, “Pound it!” His Miraculous beeped, making her frown. “You should get going. We should probably keep our identities a secret so no one can target us or our families.” At his sheepish grin, she rolled her eyes. He didn’t think about that?

“Farewell, m’lady. Let’s do this again soon, ok?”

“Not too soon, I hope,” she said as he left before going to Ivan. She looked at the note and frowned. “ _You haven’t even got the guts to tell Mylene you love her wuss_?” she read.

“Kim wrote it. He’s always making fun of me.” Ivan mumbled, making her heart twist.

“You shouldn’t get so bent out of shape about that. There’s no shame in telling someone you love them Iv-y’know?”

“Uncanny, amazing, spectacular! Are you gonna be protecting Paris from now on? How did you get your powers? Did you get scratched by a radioactive cat? Oh, I’ve got a ton of questions to ask you, uh, miss…” Alya’s questions had her head spinning.

“Lady Noir,” she answered. “I’m Lady Noir and my partner is Mister Bug.”

“Mister Bug… Super awesome!” She did her best to ignore the pain in her heart as her miraculous began to beep, letting her know she had about three minutes before her transformation dropped. “Lady Noir, would you be willing to answer a few more questions?”

“I-I can’t. These transformations only last a few minutes after we use our powers, and I need to get back before I’m missed. Maybe next time?” she smiled at her friend before jumping away. 

* * *

“- _So thanks to this amateur footage, the Parisians now know the identities of their heroes!_ ”

“We did it Plagg,” she said, a small smile on her face. The Kwami didn’t say anything from where he was eating the cheese pastry, but from the look on his face, she had to guess part of him was proud… she hoped, anyways.

“ _Marinette! Dinner time!_ ” Sabine called, making her jolt.

“ _Don’t_ destroy my room.”

“Who, me?” the cat kwami asked innocently, but she babysat Manon. She _knew_ that tone. With a smirky-smile, she went down to eat dinner.

* * *

She was getting ready to do suit redesigns for both her and Mister Bug when breaking news came on. “Just as Paris is about to celebrate the appearance of our two new superheroes, Mister Bug and Lady Noir, a new wave of panic is sweeping across the capital as dozens of people are mysteriously transformed into stone monsters. It’s simply unbelievable! These victims transformed into stone beings are still like statues. The Police are perplexed as to what will happen to them. Will they come back to life or be frozen in time forever?”

“What?” she gasped out, rushing to the TV where Plagg was floating nervously. “I thought we defeated Stoneheart!”

“Did you capture the Akuma?” he asked, making her blink.

“What’s capturing the akuma got to do with this?”

“An akuma can multiply kid. Any bad emotion, he’s back to being Rocky _and_ control those like him.” She bit back panic at this and ran a hand through her hair.

“Ok, so let’s go and get it now.” she suggested, but the kwami shook his head.

“Sorry Mari, but only Tikki and her Chosen and purify the akumas and repair the damage caused by supervillains.” He told her, making her groan.

“So I’m useless unless I find Mister Bug! Great, just wonderful!” Throwing herself on the chair, she groaned into one of the pillows.

It was going to be a long night.


	2. Stoneheart (Origins Remix Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lady Noir impresses her partner while Adrien Agreste and Marinette Dupain-Cheng finally meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters today because I managed to finish it! Here you'll see I didn't really change a lot plot wise, but in the next chapter, "Lady Wifi", there will be major changes! Enjoy~

“Ladyblog, bringing you all the latest news about the coolest superhero, Mister Bug! How awesome is that?!” Marinette grinned and handed her the phone back. “Check out the number of views I got since I posted the video _with_ Lady Noir’s small interview!”

She hesitated before rubbing her neck. “But why do you trust them so much? All these stone beings…”

“They’ll handle ‘em!” Alya said confidently, making the bluenette look away.

“But what if one of them isn’t really cut out to be a superhero even though everyone things she is?”

“What are you talking about girl?” The ombre haired girl asked, brows furrowing before realization crossed across her face. “Oh, I know what this is about!” She felt her soul ready to leave her body as, faintly, she could hear Plagg snicker from her purse. “You’re scared, but don’t be! I’ve seen Lady Noir with my own two eyes! She’s a true superheroine, ready to protect us all. I believe in her.”

She felt herself flush as they walked further into a courtyard, where she saw Alix, Juleka, Rose, Kim, Ivan, Max, Mylene, Nino Chloe and Sabrina together. Well, wasn’t that a call for disaster? “So you really don’t remember anything?” Alix asked.

“You were totally going ballistic, it was so cool!”

“You were seriously out to crush me, dude!”

“Oh, I’m sorry… I wasn’t myself.” She saw Chloe’s mouth open, and maybe if she had Tikki, maybe if she was Lady _bug_ , she would’ve kept her mouth shut.

“It’s ok Ivan,” she told him, loud enough to make Chloe snap her mouth shut and glare at her. “It’s that villains fault, the one who made you into Stoneheart.”

“You think there’s someone behind the attacks?” Rose gasped, making her grimace. Maybe she shouldn’t’ve said anything.

“I mean, think about it. Ivan turns into Stoneheart and less than an hour later there’s two superheroes who seem to have the perfect powers to stop him? There’s something more going on.” The group broke into murmurs at this.

“Pff, whatever!” Chloe sneered. “Once a monster, _always_ a monster.” She saw Ivan’s face flicker at that and immediately ran after him.

“Ivan!” She called, catching up to him. “Don’t listen to Chloe, she’s just being a bitch.”

“But she’s right,” he grumbled. She bloned before frowning.

“No, that’s not true! Would monsters love someone the way you love Mylene?” at her question, she saw a faint blush on his cheeks.

“I… don’t know what you’re talking about.” he grumbled.

“C’mon, I saw the way you look at her. Be positive! I’m sure Mylene has feelings for you too. You should talk to her.”

“I’m no good with words,” he argued, and she tilted her head.

“But… who needs words? You could draw her a picture, send her flowers…”

“I could… write her a song?” he asked, and she found herself smiling.

“That’s a great idea! What girl _wouldn’t_ want a love song written especially for her? Go for it Ivan, and, uh, stay positive!” As he rushed off, she did a small fist pump to herself.

“Not bad kid.” Plagg commented. “You should do that more often.”

“What, talk?” she asked.

“Be yourself. Marinette has a nice personality, but nice gets trampled on. It’s why you’re more outgoing as Lady Noir, isn’t it?” Her smile fell a bit at his words.

“I should get to class,” she mumbled. “Here’s my phone. There should be a few games on it, just keep the music off.”

* * *

When she entered the classroom, there was a blonde boy by her desk. At first, her heart lept a bit. I mean, what were the chances that this was Mister Bug? But he shifted to the side and there was _gum_ on her side of the bench and she saw red.

“Hey! What are you doing?” she demanded. When he couldn’t say anything and Chloe and Sabrine began laughing, it clicked. He was their _friend_. Really, she should’ve guessed he was as nasty as her. “Ok, I get it. Good job your three. Very fun.” she bit out.

“No, no, I was just trying to take this _off_!” He argued, and her expression soured a bit more.

* * *

She was late.

Lady Noir hated the scene she saw instantly: Alya, screaming in pain as a one ton car pinned her harshly against a brick wall while Mister Bug was struggling to breathe through one of the Copies fists as they carried him off. She saw the yo-yo on the ground and grabbed it immediately, using her staff to force the car away and allowing her friend to limp away.

“You can’t stay here. It’s too dangerous.” she told her before using the yoyo to propel her forward and around the corner. She jumped up and threw her staff, which lodged in the first beside him. “Mister Bug! Extend it!” As he did so, he grabbed it and she wrapped the yoyo around his foot and jumped to safety, him hanging upside down. “Sorry I was late.”

The blonde looked up at her before smirking. “M’lady, have I ever told you you turn my world upside down?” She rolled her eyes with a hum.

“Oh, you’re quite the jokester, aren’t you?” she teased before glancing over. “But your comedic timing needs work. We gotta get out of here!” Jumping to a nearby roof, she gave the yoyo an extra hard tug that let Mister Bug land on his feet and they swapped weapons. As she started running, he paused, making her groan.

“Aren’t we going to take care of ‘em?” he called.

“No, if we want to save them all, then we need to go to the source, the original!” she called back as they landed in front of the tower, where the mayor and police force were.

“I demand my daughter’s safe return!” Mayor Bourgeois was crying. In response? Stoneheart _threw_ Chloe. She didn’t hate the girl as much as she probably should have, but she knew she would never regret rushing forward and catching the blonde before she hit the pavement.

“I didn’t promise,” the blonde whispered breathlessly where her human ear would’ve been, making Lady Noir’s cat ears twitch.

“What?” she asked before getting pushed away by Chloe’s father.

“We’re clear to attack!” Officer Raincomprix said, making her heartrate spike.

“Wait, no, don’t attack them!” Mister Bug cried. “You know it’ll only make it worse!”

“I have a plan, unlike you! Move aside and let the pros do their thing. You’ve already failed once.” She winced at the officer’s words and instantly remembered her doubt.

“He… he’s right,” she mumbled. “If I listened to Plagg, asked him about the Akuma the first time around, none of this would have happened!” Mister Bug frowned and gently pulled her hands away from her face.

“No, he’s wrong, because without you, she’d no longer be here, and because without us? They won’t make it, and we’ll prove that to ‘em. Trust me on this, ok?” She looked in his green eyes and swallowed before nodding.

“Ok,” she whispered and then there was _screaming_.

“People of Paris, listen carefully. I am Hawkmoth.”

“Hawkmoth?” she mumbled with her partner.

“Mister Bug, Lady Noir, give me the ladybug earrings and cat ring now. You’ve done enough damage to these innocent people.”

There was drop dead silence, and Mister Bug wasn’t moving, so she took the initiative and started clapping while walking forward and snagging the yoyo, feeling it warm up in her hands as a… zipper appeared? “Nice try Hawkmoth, but we know who the bad guy really is. Let’s not reverse the roles here. Without you, none of these innocent victims would be transformed into villains. Hawkmoth, no matter how long it takes, we _will_ find you and YOU will hand us _YOUR Miraculous!_ ” By now, she was able to jump up onto a beam and unzipped the yoyo, a bright light coming from it a second later. “It’s time to stop this nonsense!" When she tried to throw the yoyo a the swarm, the light flickered, making her scowl. "Mister Bug!”

Mister Bug ran forward and jumped up beside her taking the yoyo back and immediately began to capture the akumas in it as she turned to the crowd, Hawkmoth’s head disappearing as she did so. “Let me make this promise to you Paris: No matter who wants to harm you, Mister Bug and Lady Noir will do _everything_ in our power to keep you safe!” Sharing a look with her partner, she watched him release the now purified butterflies as the crowds cheered. Turning her gaze up, she heard Mister Bug murmur something before Stoneheart began to move.

“Lady Noir, quick!” He said and they began to follow him. “We can’t attack him, but we know where the Akuma is.”

“Ok,” she said, pausing to hang off a beam to look at him. “We know he’s in love with her…” Mister Bug gasped, eyes going wide.

“That’s it! We don’t separate them, we bring them together!”

“They’re made for one another,” she agreed and they finally reached the top.

“H-help!” Mylene whimpered. “I’m scared of heights.”

“Everything is going to be ok,” Lady Noir promised before dodging one of the copies. “How are you planning on getting them closer?”

“Our powers.” he replied. “ _Lucky Charm!_ ” She mentally jolted when a parachute appeared. “A parachute? Any ideas m’lady?” 

She grunted as she was thrown away by one. “No, sorry!”

“Well, we’ll find out soon enough!” He called before throwing his yoyo around Mylene and Stoneheart. “His hand, get ready!”

Dodging away from a copy, she watched as Stoneheart and Mylene shared an accidental kiss and the akuma let her and the object go, allowing her to go diving after it. She swung her staff and watched as the wad of paper went back up, where Mister Bug caught it with a cheer before breaking it. “No more evil-doing for you akuma!” They both watched in horror as Ivan and Mylene began falling. “Lady Noir, take care of Ivan!” 

Using her staff as a pole to bounce on, she launched herself into the air. “ _Cataclysm!_ ” she cried, destroying part of a beam, making it fall and allowing her to slide down it and catch Ivan, slowing his fall. Looking down, she saw a ladybug parachute and felt relief as she saw both Mister Bug and Mylene safe.

Suddenly, Mister Bug threw the hastily packed parachute in the air with a cry of “Miraculous Ladybug” and the four watched as thousands of ladybugs came from the Charm, repairing all the damage Stoneheart did as well as restoring those who became copies.

“Whoa, are you seeing what I’m seeing?” She asked, making Mister Bug grin at her.

“Yeah, it’s beautiful and amazing… it’s _miraculous_.” she pulled a face at the pun but smiled because he had a point.

“I think you two have things to talk about?” she asked Mylene and Ivan, the latter looking away and stuttering. “Maybe it would help if you read the lyrics to Ivan’s song,” she offered before stepping away, giving them their privacy. “Oh, they’re _so_ made for each other.”

“Like us two,” he shot back as her ring beeped.

“Uh oh, you see that? Time to split,” she teased. “See you soon Mister Bug.” Turning, she ran away, jumping on light poles and rooftops until she reached her house, school having been most likely canceled.

* * *

“So by the time I went to the Eiffel Tower, it was all over. I’m way bummed.” Alya groaned as they walked up the stairs.

“I’m just glad the Miraculous Cure worked on you. Imagine if it didn’t; you’d most likely be internally bleeding.” Marinette worried before shaking her head. “But don’t worry! You’ll get your scoop eventually.”

“You’re right.” her friend agreed. “Next target: Mister Bug, an exclusive interview!” She grinned at that.

“Don’t you have a definite interview with Lady Noir?” she asked.

“Yeah! I mean, Lady Noir is _awesome_ and all, but Mister Bug seems like the leader. He can fix all the damage done.” That made Marinette stop and tug at Alya’s arm.

“No, they are a _team_. They balance the other out. If one goes down for good, I think the other would too.” the ombre haired teen frowned before nodding.

“You’re right. I guess I kinda forgot Lady Noir came up with most of the good ideas.” she admitted.

As they entered the classroom, Marinette saw the empty bench behind Nino and paused. “No, wait,” she motioned for her friend to join her. As they settled down, Chloe came in and immediately glared at them.

“You’re in the wrong seat.” she snapped. “Go on, get lost!”

Marinette merely crossed her arms. “‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil, is that good people do nothing!’” She quoted, making Alya snort from beside her.

“What is that supposed to mean?” the blonde echoed her movement, crossing her arms and Marinette jumped up.

“It means I’m not putting up with your crud anymore, Chloé, and neither is anyone else around here, so take your attitude and go on, get lost!” As everyone cheered, Chloe and Sabrina made their way to her old seat and Alya offered her a fist bump.

“Good job!”

Her good mood was spoiled, however, as Agreste came in and sat in front of her, making her huff and turn her head away when he tried to talk to her. “ _Dude, you wanna make friends, right? Well go talk to Marinette. You know, about the chewing gum._ ” Nino, one of her childhood friends, murmured.

“ _But what should I say to her?_ ” Agreste whispered back.

“ _Just be yourself._ ”

* * *

It was raining.

Part of her wanted to shy away from it, but instead, she stuck her hand out from under cover and shivered as the cold droplets ran down her arm. Agreste walked past her and smiled.

“Hey,” he greeted, but she looked away stubbornly, pulling her hand back under cover. He sighed and opened his umbrella. “I just wanted you to know that I was only trying to take the chewing gum off your seat, I swear. I’ve never been to school before. I’ve never had friends. It’s all sort of new to me.”

Suddenly, he shifted the umbrella away, tilting the handle towards her, and she risked a glance up, their eyes meeting. Her heart clenched and stuttered as she reached out, their fingers brushing as she took the handle. Stepping under it, she went to smile, to say thank you, when it suddenly shut on her, causing a tense silence around them before Agr- _Adrien_ started laughing, making her laugh. Peeking out from under the umbrella, she watched him go down the stairs.

“See you tomorrow!” he called.

“Uh, see you to..mo… tomo… haha! Whoa why am I stammering?” she mumbled, causing Plagg to fly out.

“First day of school and we already have two lovebirds.” he teased, making her blush and sputter more.

“ _Plagg!_ ”


	3. Lady Wifi Remix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lady Wifi with a twist

Jumping behind a billboard, Marinette stretched as Plagg just barely floated out of her purse. “Time sure flies fast when you’re fightin’.” he noted. “Day’s already over!”

“Tell me about it!” She replied. “I missed an entire half day of school AND half day of seeing Adrien!” She heard the cat kwami gag, making her giggle.

“Must you always be like this?” he groaned, dramatically flopping onto his back. “I’m hungry.”

“Maman left a few loaves of cheese bread for me to give to my class. You can have one minou.” she promised, gently rubbing his head.

“Your family’s cheese bread is amazing.” he purred before darting into her purse. She walked into the bakery where she saw her mother behind the counter.

“Alya brought your school bag home for you, Marinette,” Sabine said, offering said pink back as she yawned and took it. “You seem so forgetful these days. Maybe you just need some fresh air and extra exercise for that growing brain of yours!”

“Good idea Maman, I’ll start tomorrow,” she murmured, tiredly kissing her mother’s cheek before heading upstairs.

* * *

“Mister Bug and Lady Noir save Paris from destruction once again, but whose gonna save Marinette from her homework?” she moaned, all to ready to get into a playful argument with Plagg to distract her. She pulled out her tablet and instantly paled. “Plagg, look at this! ‘ _Call me, I know who the real Lady Noir is_ ’!”

“There’s no way someone’s figured us out this fast!” he protested.

“I doubt it,” she told him, heart racing still. “Alya is always jumping to conclusions before she has her fact straight… but it wouldn’t hurt to be sure, just in case, right?”

“Tikki would have my head if you got found out less than a month in.” he agreed.

With a small grimace, she went to go call Alya but instead got no signal. “Huh? No signal…” standing, she went onto her balcony to see a man working on the cell tower. Sighing, she went back towards the trapdoor where her kwami was floating. “No signal for another hour.”

“That sucks, too bad huh? Might as well finish your stuff so we can get supper started earlier.” Plagg floated down to lay on her bed as she groaned, but went over to her desk to begin working on her schoolwork.

* * *

When she next opened her eyes, she groaned and lifted her head up, dislodging Plagg from where he was using her hair as a nest. “It’s too early,” he groaned, and normally, she would’ve agreed, but the second she turned on her tablet, she was instantly awake.

“School started an hour ago!” she cried. “Oh, Plagg, I’m so late! Hurry, get into my purse and I’ll give you double cheese bread tonight!” As she hurriedly grabbed her stuff and packed it into her bag, she grabbed her purse and immediately bolted down the stairs and out the door. “I’m late! I’m _so_ late!” As she slid through the door and to her seat, she distinctly was aware of Alya’s absence and tapped Nino on the shoulder. “Where is she?”

“She’s been suspended.”

“ _What?!_ ” she yelped, immediately getting Miss Bustier’s attention.

“Marinette if you’re going to come in late, would you please do it discreetly?” the redhead asked, making her hang her head.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, waiting until she turned around again before looking at Nino again. “What happened to her?”

“Short story?” he asked. “Accused of breaking into Chloe’s locker, I mean, _Lady Noir’s_ locker…”

“ _What?!_ ” she screamed.

“That's it, Marinette! Go to the principal's office!” Internally grimacing, she grabbed her bag and left the room. Plagg was surprisingly quiet as she went up the stairs to Principal Damocles’s office.

“Mr. Damocles?” she called before opening the door, pausing when she saw the giant pink stop on him. “What…?” She went up to poke his shoulder and as she reached passed the computer screen, it lit up.

“ _I_ _’m Lady Wifi, revealer of the truth! For our first expose, your principal would like to share a little tidbit with you. So, Mr. Damocles, is it true you wrongly suspended a student named Alya today?” The recording of the principal looked ashamed._

_“Yes, it is.” he admitted._

_“So you were biased? Unfair? Totally unjust?”_

_“Yes, I was.” Mr. Damocles replied._

Watching it carefully, a red token caught her eye as she gasped. “Oh no, Alya! Plagg, we have to do something!”

“You’re going to have to fight your best friend, that sucks.” the black cat noted, but Marinette shook her head stubbornly.

“No, I’m going to _save_ my best friend! Plagg, _Claws Out!_ ”

* * *

She found Mister Bug across the street of Le Grand Paris, a conflicted look on his face as she saw him looking through his yoyo at… Chloe dressed in a Lady Noir costume? “Who’s being a sneaky bug now?” she teased, making her partner jolt, relief all over his face.

“Lady Noir, but-”

“Come on, you don’t actually believe she’s the real Lady Noir?” She scoffed just as Chloe tried to do a staff maneuver that left her with a nasty bump on the head.

“Yeah, of course not.” He chuckled.

“And besides, who would believe that _she’s_ the original Lady Noir? She’s obviously just a die-hard fan.” God help her for what she was about to say. “A _copycat_ , even?” Mister Bug let out a gasp, green eyes going wide.

“M’Lady was that a _pun_? I’m so proud!”

Rolling her eyes, she turned her gaze back towards the hotel and mentally cursed. “Look! The Akuma!”

“We got Wifi!” At this, the two superheroes jumped off the roof and onto the balcony, kicking the door in as Lady Wifi turned to them.

“Who are you?” She demanded.

“Uhh…” Lady Noir glanced down at her outfit and then back at the Akuma in bemusement.

“But I thought _you_ were Lady Noir!” The villain snarled.

“Sorry to bust your news story.” Mister Bug shrugged. “Next time, double-check your facts!”

“You’ll be sorry,” she swore before deleting the pause and camera icons, allowing Chloe to trip and fall on her face.

“Alya?” Lady Noir said.

“Alya’s been disconnected. I’m Lady Wifi. News flash! Mister Bug, Lady Noir, let’s find out who you really are!” Dodging the two pause icons, Lady Noir glanced at Mister Bug, who had a determined look on his face.

“Follow me!” Jumping on the wall to get behind her, they raced out of the room and down the hall, heading into the stairwell.

“So what’s the plan?” She asked, a foot behind Mister Bug.

“She gets her powers from her phone,” he began.

“So we’re leading her to the basement where there’s no service!” she finished.

“No service, no power!” He shot back. She paused and glanced up, immediately stepping back as Lady Wifi shot a pause towards her.

“We’ve gotta go lower!” She called out, starting to feel breathless. Finally, at the bottom of the stairs, she stood behind Mister Bug as he began to twirl the yoyo, taking out her staff and extending it with her own flourish.

Her ears twitched, and she heard someone on the stairs, but she couldn’t tell if they were going up or down. “Get ready!” she warned.

“So, what do you do when you’re not Lady Noir?” She stiffened and then groaned, poking the small of his back with her staff.

“Can’t you see we’re a bit busy right now?” she huffed before pausing. “Stop spinning your yoyo?” As he did so, she realized something: She couldn’t hear the akuma. “She’s gone back into the hotel!” The two shared a horrified look before once again racing on the steps, taking them two at a time.

“She locked all the doors!” Mister Bug called up from the landing above her, his longer legs having given him an advantage. He waited until they were side by side before speaking again. “You realize we might actually know each other in normal life?”

“Doubt it!” She replied, grimacing at another locked door before they finally stopped at an unlocked on. “She left this open,”

“Get ready for an ambush on 3. 1, 2, 3!” At 3, he kicked the door in and she jumped through, ready to whack her best friend on the head with her staff until she dropped her phone. Instead, there was just an empty dining room with… a bunch of phones on the tables?

“So much for the ambush.” she noted grimly.

“Where is she hiding?” Her partner murmured as they went into the middle of the room. “And what’s up with all these phones?” As if answering him, a pink light exploded from the nearest table and Lady Wifi was suddenly there, shooting pause icons left and right. 

Ducking behind a half wall before vaulting over it and running across the tables, she was faintly aware of Mister Bug yelling “I thought it was you she was after” before she overturned a table and was immediately thrown against a wall, her breath leaving her body as she fell onto the floor. Pushing herself up, her ribs ached as she watched Mister Bug break phone and phone, calmly walking forward before running after Lady Wifi into the kitchen. She saw Lady Wifi ready something on her phone and forced herself to dart forward, reaching the doors just as they slammed shut and refused to budge.

“No, no, no! Hold on, Mister Bug!” She groaned before picking her staff up and pulling up the hotel schematics. “A-hah, the service elevator!” Going through to a different stairwell, she climbed into the small elevator, heart racing a mile a minute until there was a buzz and the door opened up. When she saw Mister Bug pinned with two locks on his hands and Lady Wifi in front of him, her eyes widened before she narrowed them. “You’re out of minutes, Lady Wifi!”

“ _Two_ puns today?” Mister Bug whispered in what sounded like awe while she twirled her staff.

“Oh, how romantic! Kitten’s come to save her lovebug.” She scrunched up her nose when the akuma said that.

“He’s not my lovebug,” she protested.

“We’ll come back to that later.” Mister Bug argued. She had only a second to dodge the first lock, choosing to go left, where there was more space, as opposed to right, which would’ve been into the very cold freezer. The second one she was able to somehow block with her staff, but the swing threw her off balance. The third made her jump on the counter, fourth a flip in the air, and the fifth struck her when she landed beside Mister Bug, but rather than making her freeze, it slammed into her with such a force that had her flying back to where she started at and when she was blown to the side, she realized a second too late that she was in the freezer, her right hand hitting one of the bins with such force that her ring _fell off_. 

Standing up and ignoring how her hand burned and ribs ached, she stared at Plagg with scared eyes. “Our ring!” she cried, immediately going to the floor and feeling around for it.

“Ooh… so chilly in here.” the kwami complained and she felt a rush of worry and extra panic. He was small, so he didn’t have a lot of body heat to regulate, which meant he most likely got cold easily. Making a small note to build him a comfy, warm bed, she peered under one of the racks, trying to see the familiar silver.

“Plagg, help me find it and we can warm up faster!” she begged as the first shiver started to crawl down her spine. 

“ _I’ll get you out of there Lady Noir!_ ” She heard Mister Bug cry from the otherside of the door.

“T-Take your time!” She called back before reaching back towards the corner and feeling a familiar but cold piece of metal. “Gotcha! P-Plagg, _Claws Out!_ ”

As the green light over took her, a new wave of icy coldness left her shivering and trying to hug herself. As she leaned against the door, it opened, and she was aware of someone very _warm_ holding her close. With a shivering murmur, she opened her eyes, blinking away the blur to see a very worried Mister Bug… whose earrings were down to four dots.

“You ok, Lady Noir?” He asked quietly, a finger tracing one of her ears.

“You used your Lucky Charm to get me out,” she murmured. “There’s not much time left.” He pulled her up, still looking anxious at how unsteady she was, but as she shook her head, they moved towards the still locked door.

“The microwave is busted, isn’t it?” she asked, getting a grim nod, causing her to bite her lip. An idea hit her and she turned towards her partner. “Here’s what we can do: I can run up to the cell tower here on the roof while you block the feed in here, in case it takes longer than three minutes.” Mister Bug nodded and grabbed a pan, somehow managing to hang it up on the camera icon. “I’ll go and jam the antenna.” she said as she was climbing into the elevator.

“Good luck m’lady,” he murmured.

As she left the elevator, she immediately had to duck and roll to avoid Lady Wifi’s attack, the last one hitting the elevator as she ran into the stairwell and up the stairs. Upon getting to the roof, she jumped up onto the door hutch. “There you are. _Cataclysm!_ ” She called before starting to reach for the antenna. Before she could touch it, there was pink electrical lines as Lady Wifi appeared on the top.

“Nice idea, kitty cat, but I’m not gonna let you cut me off so easily!” Dodging the pauses and making sure not to let her right hand touch anything, she threw her staff at her friend, watching as she ducked them. As she half planned, the staff split in two and began homing back to her, which caused Lady Wifi to take her eyes off her to ensure she didn’t get hit. Rushing forward, she slammed her hand into the antenna, causing Lady Wifi to fall.

“Give me that phone!” She snarled, lunging for Lady Wifi, who quickly ducked. Readying her stance, she took several quick swipes towards the ombre haired villain, ranging from kicks to punches, but apparently Akumas knew self defense enough to avoid her attacks as she wasn’t able to land a blow. Finally, she was able to grapple Lady Wifi, but she was still able to keep the phone high above her grip. Ready to start full out growling, she saw a familiar red and black yoyo wrap around the villain’s wrist before Mister Bug yanked, sending the phone flying, to which he caught it before smashing it to the ground, causing the black and purple akuma to fly out.

“No more evil-doing for you akuma. Time to de-evilize!” He said, unzipping the yoyo before spinning it wildly and throwing it out, capturing and purifying the butterfly. Lady Noir’s ears twitched at this, once again annoyed at what he chose that command to be, though, admittedly, she couldn’t think of a better way to say a purifying command. “Bye-bye little guy.” she heard the dorky hero murmur as the white butterfly flew away, and he grinned at her, black spotted, red box in hand. As he threw it up and cried “ _Miraculous Ladybug_ ”, the swarm of ladybugs came and repaired the Akuma damage as Alya reappeared from that black and purple mass.

“Pound it!” They did their customary fistbump as Alya seemed to realize where she was.

“Mister Bug, wow! And Lady Noir! Can I get a Quick interview? Just let me grab my phone!”

Lady Noir heard a familiar beep and looked up with a gasp. “We have to go, you only have a minute!” Mister Bug’s eyes widened and together, they ran back inside, stopping in the lobby where she began to push Mister Bug into the closet.

“No, let’s stay together!” He protested, but she shook her head.

“Nobody must know who we really are. Not even us.” She looked at his face and saw the conflict before he nodded and walked through, not quite shutting it all the way. When there was a pink light, she sighed and pushed the door shut before going into a different room and dropping her own transformation. Running outside, she only paused a few blocks away to look back, to make sure she wasn’t being followed.

“That was your chance to find out who Mister Bug really is! What were you thinking?” Plagg complained, but she saw the second reason behind it.

“You’ll see Tikki again soon, Plagg,” she promised. “But today isn’t the right day for a reveal. Maybe when we’ve been partners for longer, or we’re closer to stopping Hawkmoth, but today, after what just happened? We have to wait.” The kwami grumbled, but ducked into her jacket, closer to her side, and while she got a cold chill down her spine from how cold he was still, she was glad she got him as her kwami.

* * *

“I want to tell Adrien I like him,” she said suddenly while her and Plagg were looking out over Paris from her family’s bakery.

“You sure about that?” he asked dryly, a small chunk of cheese bread in his paws. “Not like he could reject you or anything.”

“Thanks for that scenario,” she grumbled just as the trapdoor flew open.

“Got it!” Alya called, making her jump. “Wanna see my new smartphone? It puts my old phone to shame! Just look at these pics!”

Marinette blinked at all the images of Adrien, each making her eyebrows raised. “What’s with all these photos of Adrien?” she asked, a slight teasing tone in her voice.

“Well… with a mast and costume, don’t you think he looks a bit like Mister bug?” Alya flicked to another photo, where she had literally drawn on Mister Bug’s costume over Adrien. Fear filled her because, _yeah,_ he did look like her pun loving partner.

“Are you out of your mind?” she scoffed instead. “He’s tons more legit than Mister Bug!”

“Hey! Myself and half of Paris happen to think Mister Bug is pretty slick.” Alya jokingly warned. Clearing her throat, Marinette crossed her arms, leaning against the railing.

“Anyways, stop taking photos of Adrien. Well… unless you give them to me afterwards!” She snatched Alya’s new phone from her friend’s hands and began to run around the balcony.

“Give it back!” Alya called, chasing after her.

She pretended to think about it. “Nope!”

“Oh, come on Marinette! What if you drop it?” At this, she began to laugh harder and ducked down into her room as Alya joined her, jokingly adding “Everyone knows how clumsy you are!”


	4. Reflekta Remix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The day of Class photos is here, but things aren't going as they should.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll go into depth on why I haven't updated in a while, so if you want to know why, it'll be in the notes at the end.

Marinette watched Adrien and Nino as they talked before she let out a sigh. Being in the class photo together was nice and all, but she wanted a photo with _just_ them in it, with that soft smile he had whenever he thought no one was looking. 

“Thinking about him, girl?” Alya teased from where she was sitting beside him.

“What if he stands behind me?” she said, dreamily.

Alya laughed. “Just smile, and whatever happens, don’t forget to breathe!” Marinette laughed quite nervously at that. 

“At least you know you’re going to be in the photo.” Juleka piped up from behind them, making Marinette turn to her.

“No, Juleka, I’m telling you, you’re not jinxed! This time, it’s gonna work out, I can feel it, right here!” Rose pushed her hands against her heart and leaned against the taller girl. Marinette stood up, a bit concerned.

“What’s this about being jinxed?” she asked, to which the goth girl sighed.

“Ever since I was little, every time someone takes a photo of me, something always goes very wrong,” she answered, and Marinette grimaced a bit, recalling last year’s school photo.

* * *

_It had been a bright, sunny day when the photos the previous year had started. No clouds in sight, birds tweeting, and the trees in full bloom. It was literally picture-perfect. Of course, Mr. Damocles just had to have them take the pictures in the park nearby._

_Everything was set up, everything was going smoothly- until it started to pour._

_No one had checked the weather, apparently, and the distinct lack of clouds in the sky was because they were forming a giant storm cloud over the park._

_Everyone got soaked and the equipment was ruined. The photographers refused to come back for another attempt at a class photo, so last year they didn’t have one at all._

* * *

Did Juleka think it was _her_ fault?

“You’re wrong Juleka, you’ll see!” Rose protested, and her optimism made Marinette smile. 

“For sure!” She agreed. “We’ll do everything we can to make sure it goes right this time. Don’t forget to smile!”

“Okay, time to flash your pearly whites guys!” the photographer said as the class lined up. “You kids take a seat in the front bench,” he noted, gesturing to Alix, Rose, Mylene, and herself. She waited for them to pass before following, choosing to sit between the two blondes. “Quickly, please, I’ve got sixteen other classes to shoot.” Glancing towards the others, she saw Chloe and Sabrina laughing at them.

“Go on rugrats, and don’t you forget to take your thumbs out of your mouths!” the blonde called, making the bluenette growl. As everyone else filed in, she did her best not to start vibrating as she was aware of the blonde behind her, anger coursing through her veins. But she had a mission- make sure Juleka made it into the class photo. As she looked around the class behind her, however, she realized there was a distinct lack of long purple and black hair.

“Uh, excuse me, sir, you forgot Juleka!” She said, making the entire class pause.

“Huh, ah, sorry, my bad!” the photographer responded. He stopped to examine the class’s arrangement before he judged where she should stand. “Go into the middle row, next to that blonde-haired boy,” he said, and Juleka walked behind her. Marinette quickly had her attention and she grinned towards the girl.

“You’re gonna be right in the center! All eyes will be on you. No more jinxed class photos!” Marinette said, her excitement possibly getting the better of her. The bluenette smiled a bit more widely at this, although it dimmed more and more as the photographer refused to take the photo, insisting something was wrong. Chloe tried to get pushy with Juleka, attempting to make her move, but the goth refused to budge, causing Ms. Bustier and Adrien to call her out. 

Finally, after a few first and second-row seat swaps, the photographer was smiling again, and Marinette was once again aware that Adrien was _right behind her_ , did she put on her perfume today? Was it the one that made her smell like tulips, or the one that made her smell like roses? She _did_ get rid of the gross-smelling one, right? Was her hair looking alright? She remembered brushing her teeth extra well this morning, for the class picture, but maybe the thoughts she had in mind affected her performance. What if when she brushed for Adrien her breath came out better? What if she had something stuck in her teeth? All of her thoughts built up and combined and tumbled and she couldn’t escape and-

“Perfect!” the photographer shouted, breaking Marinette from her spiral.

“Uh, no! It isn’t! It’s not perfect at all!” Chloe screeched. ”I’m totally not next to Adrien!” Both Adrien and Marinette sighed at this, Adrien shaking his head, and Marinette rolling her eyes. 

“Please, Chloe, we still have sixteen classes to photograph!” Mr. Damocles ordered in a feeble attempt to stop Chloe’s ever-approaching conniption. “Go ahead, Vincent.”

“Say spaghetti!” As the class put on their best smiles, the photographer’s face fell and a rock-hard pit formed in her gut. “Oh, I don’t believe this! I’m sorry, I have to go and fetch another battery. Nobody move!” She swallowed thickly and could hear Juleka gasp before she shifted away.

“Can I go to the bathroom?” she asked.

“Yes, Juleka, but hurry!” Ms. Bustier advised. Marinette shifted nervously, wishing she could turn towards Alya, but that would mean turning around, turning to _Adrien_ -

“We’re back in business!” She jumped at the photographer’s voice and then looked around.

“Hey! What are you doing?” She yelled when she saw Chloe standing in Juleka’s spot. “Where’s Juleka?”

“Urgh, who cares? At last, I’m in the right spot!” Her head snapped around to gape at Chloe, who was pushing up against Adrien, who in turn looked uncomfortable. The photographer came back, and she could feel horror going through her veins as time seemed to slow.

“I want you to flash your best smiles! Because it’s the last time we are doing this!”

“ _WAIT!”_ She all but yelled as the bright light of the camera flashed.

“Thanks, kids!” _No, oh god, please, no._

“Oh, wait! Please, sir, we have to redo the photo!” she begged, her desperation shining through. Juleka would be so upset if Marinette had gotten her hopes up, only to dash them against the cement because she had to use the _bathroom._ It simply wasn’t fair for her friend to have a “curse,” and she was going to do something about it, even if it meant pleading on her knees to the head of their school. 

“Why’s that?” Mr. Damocles asked.

“Juleka isn't in it!” she answered.

“Jule-who?” The tone of his voice only served to frustrate her more.

“Juleka! Juleka Couffaine? The tall girl with the purple streaks!”

The rest of the class looked around, their eyes wide as she noticed Chloe’s face steadily getting darker. “Uh, Mr. Damocles,” she interrupted, her voice sour, “aren’t we meant to be heading off to lunch? And aren’t you paying the photographer _by the hour_?”

As she watched the old man agree, she had to bite back a hiss and instead stalked off towards the cafeteria. Rose had already run off towards the locker room, and there wasn’t really much she could do aside from maybe be on guard for an akuma, but how was she going to explain that to everyone?

When Rose came to Alya and Marinette in near tears, she took a deep breath and rubbed the blonde’s back. “She really does have the class photo jinx!” the shorter girl said.

“I knew Chloe did something,” she muttered, more to herself than Rose, before she raised her voice and stood up. “We’re gonna have to break this curse!”

“We can ask the photographer,” she suggested, but Marinette shook her head.

“There’s no point, he wouldn’t want to! Unless... the photo disappeared and the principal would have no choice but ask the photographer to take another one, this time _with_ Juleka!” Rose’s blue eyes sparkled as she finished her idea, while Alya just smirked and raised an eyebrow.

“You’re a genius, Marinette! But, why would the photo just disappear?” She quickly turned away, not wanting to answer _that_ question. 

“You find Juleka,” she advised. “I’ll take care of the rest.”

* * *

Collège Françoise Dupont didn’t have the best security system, though, with a kwami that could fly through objects and unlock stuff from the other side, she might be a bit biased. Plagg kept cackling to himself as she snuck passed Chloe and Sabrina, even going as far as putting some string over the second floor so they’d trip and give her more time.

“Tikki would have a fit if you were her bug,” he said when they were in the office. “She’d go on and on about how there should be another way.”

“Sometimes there’s only one way and it’s the tough way,” she mumbled, grabbing the camera and thumbing through the photos. She only wanted to delete one, after all. Of course, the door began to swing open and as she ducked under the desk, Plagg looked as wide-eyed as she felt.

“Tikki’s going to skin _both_ of us,” he whispered, and for once, the bluenette could feel a slight, disapproving chill down her spine as she slowly nodded in agreement.

“I know you’re in here Marinette. Come out, now!” She winced at the blonde’s tone, opening up her purse to let Plagg fly into it. As he did, she stood up, all too ready to either jump out the window to give the blonde a Glasgow kiss. She wasn’t sure which one just yet. “Aha! Caught red-handed Marinette Dupain-Cheng! The principal would love my video of you snooping around his office!”

With a gasp as the phone was shoved in her face, she yanked the camera towards her, which was still displaying the class photo. “Stop now, or the class photo disappears!” she snapped. “Which would be a _shame_ , considering how good you look in the photo, right next to Adrien!”

“No!” She wailed.

“Hand it over Chloe!” As she was given the photo, she quickly deleted the video, but as Sabrina moved for the camera, she was quick to pull it towards her chest with a growl.

“Give me back my phone!” Chloe demanded, to which she flicked the iPhone back, stepping away as the redhead tried, again, to get the camera.

“I’m not letting you have this,” she told her.

“ _Chloe, where are you?!_ ” Marinette all but jumped at the voice, who sounded almost like…

“What was that?” Chloe asked, and the bluenette was quick to remove the SD card and run out of the office. Running up to the library, she did her best to keep her breathing even and quiet as this hot pink fashion monstrosity bounded up the railing and stairs.

 _Akuma_ , she thought, backing into the library and opening her purse. “We have an Akuma. Plagg, _Cl_ _aws Out!_ ” As the neon green light washed over her, she unhooked her staff and gave it a customary twirl before leaving the library.

“You won’t get rid of me by locking me in the bathroom this time!” The pink Akuma snarled, and Lady Noir inhaled sharply.

“Juleka?” she whispered. The quiet girl usually had such good control of her feelings, even when there wasn’t a magical terrorist gunning after them. Jumping down between her and Chloe, who now looked exactly like the akuma, she readied her staff. “Juleka, stop this now!”

“I’m not the Juleka nobody notices anymore! Now, I’m the unmistakable Reflekta!” As she finished, the purple outline came across her face and her grip on her staff tightened ever so slightly. “I’m sure you’ll love your new image, Lady Noir.”

Using this as a sign she was about to attack, she let her left leg go back and spun the staff as hard as she could. “Thanks, but no thanks, I prefer the one I’ve got… though I could’ve done without the bell.”

“Are you sure?” the Akuma purred. “Ask Mister Bug. I’m sure he _loves_ his new look!” she shivered at the thought of Mister Bug having been hit and quickly dodged the first blast, blocking the other two and jumping down to the courtyard. As the Akuma began to chase her around, she could see one of the Reflekta copies stumbling, trying to move lockers out of the way. Soon, though, she was starting to get backed into a corner, and she saw Mister Bug’s yoyo on the ground, which she used to help deflect the shots before they got too close to her. “Soon, like everyone else, you will look just like me!” Deciding to be impulsive, she went to smack the akuma, not at all surprised as her hand was almost immediately caught. “But first, I’m gonna take your ring as a trophy!” holding her hand back as far as possible, they looked to be almost in a tango pose.

“Time to face off!” A familiar voice shouted, and as she turned to look, there were at least twenty-five Reflekta copies. “Catch her!” and with that, they all rushed forward, the voices of her classmates sounding as the akuma stepped on their heads to get away.

“You’re no good without Mister Bug, Lady Noir! This will all be over soon for you!” As she jumped up, the two she could assume to be Rose and Nino turned to her while a third came to her side.

“Don’t worry,” she told them. “Mister Bug and I will figure something out. He should be around here’ he dropped his yoyo, _again_.”

“I’m glad I did. Imagine trying to run in these shoes. They’re killers on the feet, my Lady!” as the third spoke, she wanted to rub her face and either cry or laugh.

“Mister Bug?” she asked, and as he began to tug her away, she glanced up at the sky as if to ask _why_. “What are we going to do? I can’t cast Lucky Charm or the Miraculous Cure.”

“We’ll think of something,” he promised before almost smirking. “How about a thank you for getting you out of that tight spot?” And like that, Lady Noir started laughing, covering her mouth and looking away.

“Sorry Mister Bug, but you… you just don’t look like yourself! But… thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” as the two turned towards the courtyard, she once again glanced at the sky before at her partner. “Do you have any idea where she might’ve gone?”

“Normally they go home, but Mrs. Couffane is really nice. I don’t know much about her older brother, but it’s pretty obvious they all love each other clearly. Plus, uh… I’m not quite sure where they docked today.” Tapping her fingers on the rail, she was running through all the areas the akuma would’ve gone to.

“You can’t take her face-to-face,” Mister Bug said before adding on in a joking tone. “Not unless you want a facelift too.” Her tapping paused and she grinned, pulling up the GPS on her staff.

“You’re right, and that gives me an idea,” she told him before turning her back to him.

“Where are we headed?” he asked, hopping onto her back.

“To the TV station.” moving to stand on the rails, she felt slightly off-balance as she extended the staff down and looked behind her. “Here goes… watch your nails.”

As they landed on the roof, she heard her partner huff. “Your jokes are so lame!”

“You haven’t just lost your body, Mister Bug, I think you’ve lost your sense of humor too!”

“Har har,” he said as she extended the staff again, throwing them towards the studio.

* * *

“People of Paris! Reflekta is not invincible! You can help, all you have to do is put on a disguise, then I’ll be able to spot the real Reflekta and bring her down! Remember, put on a disguise! I’m relying on you all!”

“Cut!” Mister Bug turned off the camera and the two high-fived. “Got it. Isn’t your plan a bit… complicated?” he asked.

“This? This isn’t my real plan. Now that she knows we’re at the TV station, she’ll come here.” She explained with a smirk.

“And fall right into our claws.” Mister Bug took her hand and kissed it.

“You mean, into your nails,” she shot back, not bothering to remove her hand from his.

“Still not funny,” he groaned, making Lady Noir giggle. Finally taking her hand away, she jumped up into the beams and gave the ok to Mister Bug. With his own nod, he turned off the lights, allowing her night vision to kick in.

After a few minutes, the door opened, and Reflekta walked in, but she didn’t move to tie them up; she had easily caught how their legs wobbled in the platform shoes. After a few moments where Mister Bug looked at her questioningly, the copy shook their head. “T-they’re not here,” Mayor Bourgeois’s voice said and the real Reflekta came in, a scowl on her face.

“They have to be!” She snarled, and as she stepped away from the mayor, Lady Noir threw the yoyo as quickly and hopefully silently as she could, wanting to cry in relief as the akuma took in one step before crying out in rage as she couldn’t move her arms.

Jumping down, she slammed the staff over the bracelet and the purple and black butterfly flew out. “ _Cataclysm!_ ” She cried and as the black energy washed over her hand, she grasped the Akuma and almost screamed as her arm jolted in pain, but just as sudden as it came, the pain was gone and the akuma was crumbling. Rubbing her arm, she could see Juleka come to her senses, but the other teen gasped as she glanced at her gloved hands.

“I’m still an akuma?” she asked.

“Mister Bug got hit before he could cast a Lucky Charm,” she explained quietly. “I’m going to do everything I can to make sure you go back to your normal self.”

“Until then, my Lady, you need to leave.” Mister Bug held up a hand and pointed towards a finger, and as she glanced, she saw that she was already down three pads.

“Taking the akuma out must’ve done a lot on-.” she cut herself off. “I’ll be back,” she promised before running out of the studio room and into the nearest empty office. As the transformation dropped, she caught Plagg and offered up one of the cheese bread she had stored in her purse. “Are you ok?” she asked, concerned as he seemed… _reluctant_ to eat.

“Using cataclysm on a living creature… isn’t something I like doing Kitten,” he answered. “It hurts a lot.”

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “It’s just, Mister Bug, he got hit before he could make a Lucky Charm. He can’t even detransform; his earrings, they’re _gone_.” The kwami let out a sharp hiss before finishing off the bread and flying up, still looking a bit unsteady.

“There’s something you can try,” he told her. “When we first met, do you remember what I said?”

“That Tikki and you switched places?” She said, getting a nod.

“You’re a creative soul, whereas Mister Bug is a destructive soul. You two are with the wrong kwamis, but it helps with the balance in cases like these. If Mister Bug gets hit before a Charm is made, you can force one to appear, and he can do the same with your cataclysm if you’re out for the count as well.”

“And the cure can happen without the earrings?” she asked, and at his confirmation, she quickly transformed again and bolted out the door, running back to where Mister Bug was talking to Nadja. “Mister Bug, catch!” throwing him his yoyo, she weaved their hands together, his right to her left, and gave him a mad grin. 

“My Lady?” he asked, eyes wide before she threw their hands up, both holding onto the yoyo string.

“ _Lucky Charm!_ ”

A fake set of earrings fell, and as Mister Bug caught it, he looked between her and them with wide eyes. “I didn’t know you could do that!” He exclaimed. “Can I do the same?”

“Apparently. Let’s cast the Cure before the limit though. You don’t quite have earrings in this form,” she hinted, and he grimaced before letting go of her hand and tossing the earring case up in the air.

“ _Miraculous Ladybug!_ ”

As the ladybugs zoomed around, she caught sight of Juleka turning back into herself along with a few others, and when she turned back, Mister Bug was offering a fist with a tiny grin on his face.

“Pound it!” they laughed and his earrings began to beep.

“See you later,” she gave him a little salute before heading over towards Juleka and the others. She had something to do real quick.

* * *

Running outside the school, she pulled out the memory card with a small sigh. “This was a bad choice,” she said.

“So you’re _not_ gonna erase the photo? After all the trouble you went through to get it?” Plagg complained, making her snort.

“No,” she said. “Chloe and Sabrina aren’t that much trouble. Besides, I’ve got another idea I’d like to think Tikki would approve of.” As she walked into the courtyard, she saw the camera on the ground and went over the photographer. “Oh, hey, you dropped this!” She said, and the man blinked.

“Ah, _grazi_!” As he turned, she bit her lip.

“I know you’re busy, but one of our classmates wasn’t in the photo you took. Is there any way we could do it again?” The man paused, looking torn.

“Well, I’m running late with everything that’s been going on and… Mr. Damocles…”

“I understand!” She agreed. “But… could we do it after you’re finished here at the school? We could set up at the park next door.” As he hesitated, she decided to lay on the puppy dog eyes. “We want the most awesome photo taken by the most awesome photographer, _please_?”

“Well, when you put it that way... ok!” At his agreement, she cheered and thanked him before going to tell the others the news.

* * *

About two hours later, everyone was gathered in the park, though she could see Chloe and Sabrina way off to the side, the latter looking like she wanted to join. “Thanks for doing this Marinette,” Juleka said, a small smile on her face as she waved towards someone across the park.

“It’s nothing,” she motioned for the girl to sit in the middle.

“Ok, we’re all good here, ready?” the photographer called.

“This photo was a good idea, Marinette,” Adrien said, and she felt herself blushing as she tried to make a coherent sentence.

“T-thanks, Adrien!” And with that, the class, bar two, began to take their class photo, the photographer having them do different poses and places, but one thing stayed the same: Juleka was in the center and she was _amazing_.

As they looked over the photos, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling.

“The class photo curse is broken!” Rose gasped in joy before she and Juleka hugged Marinette.

“Thank you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who've been following me for a while, y'all know I've been working on getting a house sold. Well, about a month ago, we sold it! (To my 5th-grade teacher ironically enough lmao) and, unfortunately, Last Saturday (March 14th, 2020) my cat Marshmellow passed away. His health had been declining for the past year, which impacted my other stories, and the last two days of his life, he went downhill really quick and passed away before we could get him to an emergency animal hospital. I'll miss him dearly.
> 
> tl;dr: got a house sold and one of my cats died

**Author's Note:**

> Do you have any ideas? Want to tell me something or think I missed something? Please let me know!
> 
> Note: I'm using the timeline found on the fandom wiki so episodes/chapters will be in chronological order rather than the random way Netflix has it set up with! (timeline found here: https://miraculousladybug.fandom.com/wiki/Timeline#Timeline%20View)


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